Wills Financial Group LLC Purchases New Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Key Points

• Wills Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group Inc. worth approximately $858,000 by purchasing 3,236 shares during the first quarter.
• CME Group recently reported $1.69 billion in revenue for the last quarter, a 10.4% increase year-over-year, with earnings per share of $2.96, exceeding analysts' expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.25, representing an annualized dividend of $5.00 with a yield of 1.8%.

Wills Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,236 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $858,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 122.2% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 612.5% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ CME opened at $280.76 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $101.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock's 50-day moving average is $276.07 and its 200-day moving average is $264.36. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $196.62 and a one year high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. CME Group's revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 390 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.50, for a total value of $108,225.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 6,708 shares in the company, valued at $1,861,470. This trade represents a 5.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total transaction of $132,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,900 shares in the company, valued at $1,300,215. This trade represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,576,294 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Oppenheimer increased their target price on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays set a $298.00 target price on CME Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $261.93.

CME Group Profile

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CME? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.